Scrooge takes miserly cut at Upper Darby man's Christmas display

UPPER DARBY -- A villainous vandal has ruined a Westbrook Park man's Christmas spirit after severing the wires on his holiday light display five times under cover of night.

Joseph Russella, 70, of the 5300 block of Delmar Road, chokes up and holds back tears when he talks about the damage and effect it has had on him.

"I'm here 49 years and do my decorations every year since my first kid was born in 1963," Russella said. "My wife, Janet, and I were the first young couple to move into this section, now we're the old couple and other young couples live on the street.

He said he used to put up more decorations than the strings of Christmas stars, reindeers, a Santa and mock Christmas packages that fill his lawn this year.

"I usually put up the lights right after Thanksgiving," Russella added.

He said last week was the first time someone cut the wire on the string of stars along the sidewalk to his front door.

"The wire has been cut four times since then," Russella said. "Every time I fix the wires someone cuts them again in the same place. When they cut them this time, they cut it several times to make sure I couldn't fix it. Now the lights shorted out and I can't light any of them."

Russella posted several handwritten signs on his front lawn directed to the Grinch for damaging the lights saying: "Thank you for being such a good neighbor for cutting my wires, you sick person."

Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood had harsh words for the hoodlum.

"It's a sad commentary when somebody is trying to do a nice thing for the neighborhood and then some scumbag goes around and intentionally destroys what he is trying to do," Chitwood said. "It makes no sense. It's pure evil. It's some sick creep scumbag ruining the Christmas display.

"I'd love to catch whoever did this and throw the book at him. Anybody with information should call police."

Russella has three grown children and six grandchildren.

"I feel bad because my son, Darren, was coming over from New Jersey with his two boys, ages 3 and 1, to see the lights," Russella said of Daniel and Vincent. "The little ones like to see the Santa Claus go up and down. I have the lights on a timer. My neighbor said the lights were on at 1 a.m., but when my wife came out to get the newspaper in the morning, the wires were cut in exactly the same spot."

According to Russella, the first time the sneaky wire-cutter snipped the lights he ignored it.

"The second time I thought maybe it was from the newspaper," Russella said. "But then the wires were cut a third time, a fourth time and a fifth time.

"This is positively ruining my holiday, but more than ruining my holiday, it's ruining the trust I have in my neighbors. Now I want to move. I thought I had good neighbors. I get along with all the young guys.

"They even shovel the snow for me. Everybody on the whole block puts lights up. We all keep our homes nice. Who would do this to me?"